#51.
To Cordelia, who seems to have quite a talent for idleness more than expected.
Welcome to my world.
Drinking tea,
sleeping,
crying,
reading,
buying bread, and then drinking tea again while writing letters.
I applaud your day, as I recall the harsh words you poured upon me in our first letter.
How does it feel? A life of daily play isn’t so bad, is it?
If we could only meet, I think we could share quite a pleasant daily routine.
Evening of the seventh day of Fruit Month.
-Your ever-idle friend, Archibald Albert.
P.S. Flynn and Noel have just returned from Yelling’s estate. It seems Lady Josephine accompanied them, reluctant to part from Noel. It’s the perfect time to deliver the words you asked me to say. Just wait a little longer, Cordelia.
P.S.2: And how about Liam? Haven’t you reached out to him? Did you two fight, by any chance? If he’s upset you, let me know. Should I scold him for you?
* * *
Dear Archibald Albert William, my sweet prince.
That last remark made me laugh.
Unlike you, the master of obsession, my Liam doesn’t seem to feel any jealousy toward you, my mysterious pen pal of riddles.
When I tell him I’m busy writing letters, he just presses his lips together and generously allows me to indulge in my leisurely evening hours with you.
Then I shall await the letters Lady Josephine will deliver.
Ah, please also convey my thanks for the long story.
Night of 8.10.
-With love, Cordelia.
* * *
To my evening’s master, Coco.
I’ve just gone to Lady Josephine and relayed your request exactly as you asked. Luckily, it seems Lady Josephine has been keeping all the letters sent to Princess Edwina. She said she would show them to me as soon as she returned to the castle.
But after saying that, she tilted her head and added:
“But I’m afraid looking at those won’t help at all. If they were letters I sent to Princess Edwina, that’d be a different story…”
I immediately asked why. It’s certain that the letters Princess Edwina sent to Josephine must have included all the details about her life with Prince Reiner and raising you, Cordelia.
Lady Josephine hesitated for a long while before finally speaking.
“Well… You see, Princess Edwina wasn’t one for writing long letters in the first place. To Prince Reiner, she’d only write things like ‘potato’, ‘grape’, and ‘towel’.”
I quickly inquired further.
“But didn’t she have a talent for telling stories? She read many books, didn’t she? Surely she was a brilliant writer?”
“Well… the ability to write letters and the ability to write stories are quite different. There are two types of people in this world, Prince Archibald. Those who, like you and I, write letters passionately, and those who, the moment they pick up a pen, find everything tedious and just run over to say it in person.”
“So, you’re saying Princess Edwina was the latter?”
“Perhaps. The letters she sent me were really written out of necessity. It’s hard to even call them letters. They were just requests to inform or send something.”
“To inform about what?”
“Send something to eat for the sick child, teach me how to bake cream pies, threaten Tilbert to paint something, and startle Beder with a meaningful look…?”
“Good grief.”
Yes, thus ended our sad conversation. I recalled our old letters. Cordelia, didn’t you once say that the letters you received during your boarding school days were full of nagging? It seems your mother’s letter-writing skills were always like that.
Though Lady Josephine promised to gather and send all of Princess Edwina’s letters upon her return to Yelling Castle, I doubt they will satisfy our curiosity.
But don’t be disappointed just yet, Cordelia.
There’s one story left that you’re bound to love.
I was in the scriptorium to relay all of this when Lady Josephine knocked and suggested I visit Princess Edwina’s cottage.
We may not know exactly when Princess Edwina crossed over to your world, but what’s certain is that she once lived there.
That’s why there’s a gravestone for Sir Arthur Gyllen and Princess Edwina in the back garden. And so, Lady Josephine’s guess that some of her belongings might still be in that house was quite reasonable.
But she overlooked one thing. My meticulous mother and the late King Alfred ordered everything from that house to be cleared out and taken to Arly. When I mentioned this, Lady Josephine smiled.
“Do you think Princess Edwina wouldn’t have thought of that?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Edwina I knew wouldn’t have left things so easily. Even when she was a child living as an outcast, or when she was in Reutlingen, she was a master at hiding things. Go on, Prince Archibald, go look. If she didn’t leave them to her daughter, I’m sure they’re still there.”
Lady Josephine seemed almost certain.
She believed that if I visited Edwina’s cottage, I would find Tilbert’s illustrations she had sent, the recipe for chicken soup for a sick child, and letters reporting on her pranks on Beder.
And of course, there would likely be letters Prince Reiner wrote to Princess Edwina, filling that bookshelf to the brim with countless notes.
Perhaps, I might even find the three-strand bracelet that Princess Edwina left behind.
If I’m lucky, I might be able to bring it with me when I come to see you.
What do you think, Cordelia?
Will you praise me now?
-Your slightly smug friend, Archibald Albert.
P.S. Not jealous, you say? Is there really such a thing as love without jealousy? You might want to reconsider Liam, Coco.
* * *
To Prince Archibald, who seems to be a master of jealousy.
Yes, I’ll gladly praise you.
But let me ask you one thing.
Isn’t the princess’s cottage in the western forest?
Last month, you nearly died because of the monsters that came out of that very forest.
Can’t you wait to search for the bracelet until after the monsters are all gone?
As much as I long to read my parents’ letters, if you die in the process, I’ll regret it terribly.
Archibald Albert,
You seem more in a hurry than I am today.
Please don’t go into the western forest. Promise?
Night of 8.10.
-Your very worried friend, Cordelia.
P.S. I mean it. You absolutely cannot leave with just a letter without my permission! Never, ever!
* * *
To my Coco, who carries so many anxieties.
Although it seems like a romantic notion to risk my life for the sake of bringing you jewels and piles of letters, putting my one and only neck on the line would mean never seeing you again.
If I were to be slain by a monster’s claws, in my last moments, I would see the large exclamation marks you so often place floating before my eyes, preventing me from even closing them properly.
If I disappeared like that, you’d drown in tears, sending off letters ruined by your sobs, and poor Beder, whose eyesight is already failing, would collapse trying to decipher your messy handwriting. The thought of the silence that would then descend upon the monastery of Lethe, where Beder no longer resides, suffocates me. Yes, such a thing must never happen.
So rest assured, Cordelia.
Your jealous pen pal is not reckless enough to set off without thinking into the monster-infested western forest.
As soon as I rose from my seat after writing you, I immediately called for Cecilia to ask whether the issue of the monsters in the western forest had been resolved. As always, Cecilia furrowed her brow and asked me:
“Why do you care about that?”
“Well, I was thinking about taking a walk.”
“If you’ve decided to die, that’s your choice, and I’ll support it.”
…Yes, after this typical sibling banter, I convinced Cecilia (that is, I knelt and begged in front of her) to call someone to put up a barrier. Someone from the magic tower will arrive tomorrow, and setting up a barrier from the monastery to the princess’s cottage will take just 2–3 hours.
Then, I’ll be able to embark on my journey to unravel the secrets of your parents.
Along a very safe path, of course.
Now, will you grant me permission to leave, my Lady Cordelia?
Evening of the seventh day of Fruit Month.
-With love, pleading, and a touch of humility, your Archibald Albert.
* * *
Prince Archibald Albert William Whatever.
It’s not that I can’t remember your long name.
It’s just that my mind has been a bit muddled, and my memory seems to have weakened.
Perhaps I’ve taken in too much information over the past few days, and it’s been a confusing summer night for me.
The hottest days have passed, and now a cool breeze is blowing here in the evenings.
But with the end of summer approaching, I can’t shake this anxious feeling in my chest that our letters, too, might soon come to an end.
Archibald Albert, are you truly sure it’s safe?
There’s no chance the monsters can break through the barrier, right?
Just in case, wouldn’t it be wise to bring along a healer?
Cecilia—yes, why not bring her too? I’d feel a little more at ease if Cecilia were to accompany you.
* * *
My dear Cordelia,
Worrying about monsters breaking through a barrier, I think you might need to join the magic tower of Reutlingen. They’d surely welcome a cautious soul like you who insists on double-checking everything.
Fortunately, the person Cecilia brought in is someone much like yourself. A job that should’ve taken three hours is dragging on for half a day.
If this person’s maddening thoroughness doesn’t ease your mind, then yes, for your sake, I’ll bring my sister along. Although, there are those who would argue whether being slain by a monster due to Cecilia’s absence or being struck dead by her while she’s by my side would be the more horrific fate.
Cordelia,
Are you smiling by now?
Please say yes, for the love of all that is good.
As your mother once said, it’s hard to get by in this world without a little humor and kindness.
I understand your fears, given the rumor that beautiful people die young, but I assure you, I’m embarking on this adventure in a very, very safe environment.
It may not be as grand or romantic as the way your father, in his love, eliminated countless possibilities to choose the best world for the one he loved, but in my own way, this layabout is carrying his own desperate kind of resolve.
If finding the bracelet means I can come to see you,
even if there’s just a sliver of a chance,
I wouldn’t mind losing an arm or two to the monsters.
P.S.: You’ll have to pour the tea.
Looking at the low evening moon of Fruit Month,
-Your Archibald Albert.
* * *
My Prince,
Take extra care of your left shoulder.
And your right one too, along with every other part of your body.
Can I ask for one more favor?
Be sure to bring the bookshelf with you.
If the journey grows too long, you know I’ll go mad with worry over you.
-With love, your Coco.
P.S.: Exactly how many people are going?
* * *
To my ever-worried lady,
It will be Cecilia, myself, and Florian.
Florian, that child, was shaking with worry, just like you.
He asked repeatedly if I really had to go, sighing deeply and fretting all the while, then finally declared he’d come along, saying, “Isn’t this the house I grew up in?”
Cordelia, I’m sure you’ve had suspicions of your own.
But it wasn’t until after he spoke that I remembered Flynn is a liar.
Now that it’s been revealed that you are Princess Edwina’s daughter, Flynn cannot be who he claims to be.
My brilliant friend, I can’t imagine you haven’t realized this already, so I wonder why you haven’t asked me about it yet. Nor do I understand why Lady Josephine goes along with it, calling Flynn “Duke Florian” and treating him as though he’s the child of Princess Edwina.
I’d love nothing more than to sit in the scriptorium with you, heads bent over the bookshelf, unraveling this mystery together. But the barrier has been completed, so it’s time to set off. Flynn, liar though he may be, has a sharp mind like yours, so he won’t be the worst companion.
With the bookshelf now securely strapped to my considerably strengthened shoulders, and the key tucked into my right pocket, I’m ready to head out. I’ll surely be carrying more on the way back.
So please, don’t worry. I’ll reach out to you by tomorrow.
On the dawn of the eighth day of Fruit Month,
-Your Archibald Albert.
* * *
Archibald Albert,
Did you arrive safely?
Night of the eighth day of Fruit Month.
-Cordelia.
* * *
Archie?
Are you alright? Wasn’t it supposed to take just one day?
Morning of the ninth day of Fruit Month.
-Your Coco.
* * *
Damn you, Archibald Albert William.
Answer me right now.
If you’re playing some kind of prank to tease me, I swear I’ll be furious.
You’re not the type to play jokes like this, are you? Right?
Night of the ninth day of Fruit Month.
-Cordelia.
* * *
Prince Archibald,
Please send a reply.
I beg you.
I’m going mad with worry.
You don’t have to write much.
Even if you say you’ve lost an arm, I won’t cry.
Just… tell me you’re safe.
Night of the tenth day of Fruit Month.
-Cordelia Grey.
* * *
Archie,
Have you forgotten me?
Are you terribly ill?
You’re alive, right?
Please send a letter.
I’ll tell you what I think about Florian.
You’ve always been curious, haven’t you?
You’ve always wondered what I’ve been hiding, though you never asked.
And yet I never told you.
What kind of promise, what kind of note is worth this silence?
Archibald Albert, please show up soon. Please?
The dawn of the eleventh day of Fruit Month, 1 a.m.
-Sleepless Cordelia.
* * *
Prince Archibald,
Are you alive?
I’m still alive, but I feel like I haven’t slept in ages.
I miss you so much.
Night of the twelfth day of Fruit Month.
-Your one and only Coco.
P.S.: Please send a reply, my prince. I’m begging you.
* * *
To Prince Archibald,
Florian sent me a letter.
He told me to go find Liam if you disappeared.
I’ve spent a long time thinking about what that meant and who he really is.
All the clues I’ve been given point in one direction, but I couldn’t believe it.
My mind became too tangled to even tell you.
Even now, I’m sitting here with my thoughts still in disarray.
But I know this, Archibald.
If I can no longer exchange letters with you,
if I must continue life without knowing whether you are dead or alive,
the rest of my days will be utterly miserable.
So I’m going to Liam right now. I don’t know what Florian is plotting, or how things will unfold, but I will grab him by his beautiful neck and demand he give me a way to come to your world. Archibald Albert, I won’t ask for your permission. So just stay alive and wait for me. I’m coming to see you.
Morning of the thirteenth day of Fruit Month.
-Cordelia Flora Grey.
* * *
———= Author’s Note =———
To my beloved readers,
Yes, we’ve reached this point.
The day we meet is not far off, can you feel it…?
I was going to only bring one chapter, but I figured it would be better to continue here. I’m cutting it here, though, with tears in my eyes.
So that you can feel the weight of Archibald’s long silence more vividly, I’ll bring the final chapter after a few days.
P.S.: Thank you to the supporters who sent coupons—애고보님, 온별누리님, Sen98님, 김치치님, and 휴즈라님. Thank you all for the favorites, recommendations, and comments as well!
+++ Additional note: Many have been asking about a limited edition print version. I’ll provide another announcement after the finale. Don’t worry!
<– Juliet Knew First –>
Chapter 51: Juliet Knew First
08-15-THU-9:02.
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Cordelia,
Are you really going to find Liam? Right now?
So, you’re planning on skipping work today?
–
08-15-THU-9:10
From: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
To: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
I’ve explained everything to you, Juliet.
The book made of gold, the dried flower that I don’t even know when it was pressed, the expensive bookmarks, the painting with my name, and all those letters—everything was given to me by Archibald Albert William.
You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you? When we opened the bookshelf, the letters slid out on their own.
He’s not just a prince from a novel.
He is *my* Archibald Albert William.
And you’ve also seen that note he gave you.
The weird one that started with, “You really don’t listen, do you, Cordelia.”
He said it himself.
If the letters stop, I should go find Liam.
And it’s been six days since the letters stopped.
I can’t wait any longer.
–
08-15-THU-9:23
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Right. If I hadn’t been so startled by that letter suddenly popping out when we opened your bookshelf that day, you’d already be sitting in front of a psychiatrist, Cordelia Grey.
It’s far less suspicious to assume you’re a woman who’s lost her mind, hammering gold to make a book, drying flowers by hand, painting whatever you like, and pretending all of it was a gift from a prince from a novel than to believe it actually happened. You know that, don’t you? You’ve always been a little unhinged.
But now, I feel like I’m losing it too.
Because here I am, nodding along and agreeing with you.
Alright. I’ll cover for you at work today.
I’ll tell them you were crying your eyes out, feeling so sick that you had to rush to the emergency room and you’re too out of it to even think straight. So don’t worry about work and just go.
One day won’t hurt.
But what are you going to do?
What exactly do you plan to do when you find Liam?
–
08-15-THU-9:58
From: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
To: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
Juliet,
I’m done sitting in front of the bookshelf, waiting, crying, wondering whether he’s alive or dead.
I’m not going to wait for a letter that may never come.
Do you know what I’ve been thinking all this time?
Liam holds all the secrets. He’s definitely someone from that world.
That’s why he wrote *The Princess and the Knight*, why he gave me the bookshelf, and why he knows how all of this works. If Liam came from there, then he knows how to return.
I’m going to meet him. I’ll demand that he send me there.
–
08-15-THU-10:03
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
You’ve lost it.
So you’re really planning to enter that fairy tale world?
Cordelia, why don’t you just tear up all those letters and toss them into the Thames, and live your life as you were?
If you love that world so much, why not just hold onto Liam?
Didn’t you say you loved him too? That it was love at first sight?
-Juliet, willing to go to the Thames with you if it comes to that
–
08-15-THU-10:13
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Cordelia? Cordelia, are you going to reply?
–
08-15-THU-10:27
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
You didn’t even read my email before taking off, did you?
You really are hopeless when it comes to listening.
Whoever wrote that note, whether it’s your mom or someone else who’s freakishly good at mimicking your handwriting, whoever it was,
they sure know you incredibly well.
–
08-15-THU-10:30
From: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
To: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
Hey,
I’m still here, okay?
P.S.: I *told* you, the person who wrote that note *feels* like my mom. You might think that sounds crazy, but…
–
08-15-THU-10:33
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Good.
At least if you really go, prepare yourself properly first.
P.S.: That’s ridiculous. Your mom was my childhood idol. There’s no way she’d mess around, copying your handwriting like that.
–
08-15-THU-10:41
From: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
To: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
Alright, let’s put the talk about my mom aside for now.
What kind of preparation? Don’t tell me you’re rushing over to dress me up all pretty, talking about first impressions and all that?
What matters right now is whether Archibald Albert is alive or not, Juliet.
I don’t need any more preparation.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.
–
08-15-THU-10:45
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Pretty clothes? No.
You need proper clothes, so you don’t get accused of being a witch and burned at the stake.
You should borrow something from that hippie girl who lives upstairs. She already dresses like she stepped out of the Middle Ages.
Did your prince tell you what the bathrooms are like there?
Are there showers? You can’t even go a day without bathing.
Cordelia, did you get all your vaccinations as a kid?
You’d better stop by the pharmacy and get some antibiotics or anti-inflammatories, just in case.
Do you even realize how dangerous the Middle Ages could be for a woman?
People think it’s all romantic like a Disney movie, but it’s far from it.
Honestly, how did your mother ever close her eyes in peace knowing she had a daughter as recklessly optimistic as you?
This big sister is seriously worried.
–
08-15-THU-10:57
From: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
To: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
Enough with the warnings, Juliet.
One more worry, and I’ll bet you’ll be trying to follow me there.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I’ll head to the pharmacy and ask for every antibiotic and anti-inflammatory they have.
Your clothing tips were helpful too.
I just borrowed a white shirt and a medieval-style belt from Rain (yes, stop calling her the hippie girl. She has a name, you know). I tried borrowing pants, but they were a bit too big at the waist. I had a hard time finding something suitable from my own wardrobe.
Rain also said that with how I’m dressed, I should cut my hair short. She even tried to chop off my four-year-old hair on the spot! I panicked and just tied it up with a string. Rain said that was good enough, though.
So now I look like a young boy. Hopefully, that’ll ease some of your worries about me being a girl suddenly dropped into the Middle Ages.
I’ve even wrapped my chest with bandages, and I feel like a character straight out of *Twelfth Night*.
Anyway, Juliet, thanks for the advice, and for the emergency room excuse.
I’ll be back soon.
-Cordelia
–
08-15-THU-11:00.
08-15-THU-11:00
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Good heavens, Cordelia.
You cut your hair?
You’re dressing like a boy?
Like Viola in *Twelfth Night*?
Like Florian in *The Princess and the Knight*?
Oh, how could I have missed this!
Cordelia, the Florian who sent you that note—it wasn’t your mother. It was *you*.
You disguised yourself as a man, went to that world, and *became* Florian.
You always act so clever, but when it comes to the most important things, you completely miss the mark.
Just like when I told you not to hang out with Garrett when we first started at the company, but you couldn’t turn down his “kindness,” and look what happened.
Oh, seriously, how did your mother ever leave this world knowing you were still around?
Cordelia, drop this cross-dressing nonsense, and don’t go to Liam.
Stop trying to become the hero of the story and get trapped in that world.
Please, reply now. You’re not going anymore, right?
–
08-15-THU-11:14
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Cordelia?
What are you doing now that you’re not reading my emails?
–
08-15-THU-9:00
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
Cordelia, did you really go this time?
–
08-15-THU-9:00
From: Juliet〈[email protected]〉
To: Cordelia〈[email protected]〉
You’ve gone, haven’t you.
I can only hope you at least read my last email before you left.
People think you’re clever for putting up with Juliet Capulet’s wild behavior, but they have no idea that I’m here, racking my brain, coming up with excuses for your extended leave.
Stubborn, reckless friend, I’ll figure it out somehow. Just make sure to contact me the moment you’re back. Got it?
———= Author’s Note ———=
To my dear readers,
Sorry I’m a day late.
I promised to wrap things up last week.
I apologize.
But I’ve really brought the finale this time.
Please press “next” about five times…?
P.S.: Thanks to those who sent support coupons—알입니다님, 여우그늘님, 애고보님, 온별누리님, Sen98님, 김치치님, and 휴즈라님.
And a big thank you to everyone for the favorites, recommendations, and comments!
<– Archibald Albert William and Cordelia Flora Grey –>
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